Catching cutthroat, brook and brown trout in high mountain streams

We have been very thankful for the monsoon weather that showed up near the end of July and into August. Before good drenching rains, the mountains were looking like a tinderbox fit to feed a large fire. This morning was a little bit cooler, and the onset of fall weather feels like it has begun. Do not get me wrong, I am sure we have plenty of hot days still ahead, but just not as many.

I have noticed a few things about a nice rain and how it impacts the fishing. Initially, it might wash mud into the water, causing an off-color and a highwater flow. Too much mud and highwater seem to cause the fish to seek shelter. The right amount of rain can turn things on. Insects are washed into the streams and worms are dredged from the mud. The abundance of food can send fish into a feeding frenzy. Rain will often set off hatches of various insects from flying ants to tiny midges and many insects in between.

James Bostian, a local angler, shares with us a few of the flies he uses to catch brook and cutthroat trout in the beautiful high mountain streams of northern New Mexico. Some of the places James likes to fish are the Rio Costilla, Valle Vidal and Valles Caldera. He preferers fly fishing these streams and practices catch and release with these exquisitely colorful and rare native trout species.

The bead head Prince Nymph is one of James’s go-to flies for fishing these relatively small streams. The Prince Nymph is a subsurface fly. The bead head provides enough weight for the fly to sink into the water column where the fish are feeding. If the fish are feeding deeper than the fly sinks, then it may be necessary to add weight by placing a number 6 split shot weight to the fishing line, approximately one-foot above the fly. Using lightweight fishing line, 6x 3-pound test, James can present these flies to awaiting trout in a natural manner that mimics the insects the trout are feeding on.

If the fish are rising to feed on the water’s surface, James has had success using a PMD (Pale Morning Dunn) fly with floatant. The PMD fly mimics a variety of airborne insects and is often too tempting for a rising trout to pass.

Eric Battle, of Los Alamos, also likes to fish for elusive trout using a bead head nymph fly. One of his go-to flies is a custom-tied size 18 black bead head Hare’s Ear nymph.

Once upon a time, he caught and released 17 brown trout ranging in size from 16 to 21-inches on the Chama River. Eric uses a 5x 4-pound test line when fishing for brown trout of this size. These fish are strong and capable of applying enough pressure to break the fishing line if they are not carefully played to the net.

Furthermore, Eric implements the fishing technique coined as Euro Nymphing. Euro Nymphing is a complex iteration of deploying various techniques, but for the sake of simplicity, it is essentially nymph fishing without a strike indicator or heavy fly line that causes drag in the water. When using this technique, the angler tries to allow his nymph to sink naturally and watch for visual cues in his leader that indicate when a fish has bit. There is so much to Euro Nymphing that many pages could be written on this technique. Here is an article with a good basic description of what Euro Nymphing works.

Catfish bait from the Seafood Isle

Catfish abound in most New Mexico waters and are sought after by many anglers across the state. Darrell Cypress Smith, age 12, of Church Rock likes to catch them using a bait you can find in most seafood sections of any local grocery store. His secret weapon is shrimp. I have also found shrimp (cooked or uncooked) to work well for catfish. In fact, I have caught more catfish using shrimp and hotdogs than any other bait.

I deshell my shrimp before securing it onto my fishing hook. I am not sure if deshelling is necessary, but it is my personal preference. I guess my thought process works; if I were a catfish, I would prefer to consume a soft, deshelled shrimp. But catfish do eat whole crawdads, shell and sharp claws included, so it probably does not really matter.

My favorite setup for catching catfish is called a Slip Rig. For this setup, you first slide half of an ounce of egg sinker onto your fishing line. Then you tie on a swivel. Next, you secure an Eagle Claw Baitholder Hook to the swivel with 10 to 12-inches of leader separating the hook from the swivel. I run my hook twice through the shrimp, making sure it is on the hook securely with as little hook exposed as possible.

Any anglers willing to share their experiences, techniques or tackle, please contribute by emailing Dustin at funfishingnm@gmail.com.